


I Don’t Wanna Miss You Like This ( Come Back, Be Here )

by onethingsuniversal



Category: The Prom (2020), The Prom - Sklar/Beguelin/Martin
Genre: Business Trip, F/F, Fluff, greenlan as parents, how it got over 5k words is beyond me but hey, idk if it counts as angst but it’s a little sad in places, one day I’ll stop writing these I swear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 03:15:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28556718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onethingsuniversal/pseuds/onethingsuniversal
Summary: The idea of a business trip was not easy to explain to someone who only knew work as where her mommies went whilst she was at preschool. That had become blatantly obvious when they’d told her that her mommy would be going away for a weekend for work soon, and she’d ended up crying herself to sleep on her mama’s chest because she couldn’t understand why Alyssa wouldn’t be home for their special Saturday breakfast or why they couldn’t all go to the hotel together, because they’d been to a hotel when they went to Disney world in the summer- and that was lots of fun.orAlyssa goes on a trip out-of-state for a work conference, leaving a very emotional wife and daughter behind. Emma tries her hardest to make the weekend as fun as possible.
Relationships: Alyssa Greene/Emma Nolan
Comments: 8
Kudos: 41





	I Don’t Wanna Miss You Like This ( Come Back, Be Here )

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!! I’ve been working on this for far too long but I’m actually really proud of it and I hope you enjoy it. This is the longest thing I think I’ve ever published - fun fact!
> 
> Shoutout, of course, to Kate (AnotherUsernameIllForget) for being so awesome and encouraging me to write this - I might blame her for how long it got.... 
> 
> Believe it or not we still have MULTIPLE Rosie-Fic ideas, so if you’d like to see more then definitely leave a comment! (or dont- we will probably just write it anyway at this point)
> 
> (title is from Come Back, Be Here by Taylor Swift) (duh)

Any parent would tell you that there’s nothing quite as gut-wrenching as hearing your child cry. Emma would have agreed with that, right up until that afternoon..

Alyssa had had this certain work event scheduled in her calendar for months now, why is was scheduled for a weekend was beyond her, but still, neither she or Emma had been able to work out the best way to tell their now, three year old daughter. 

But the idea of a business trip was not easy to explain to someone who only knew work as where her mommies went whilst she was at preschool. That had become blatantly obvious when they’d told her that her mommy would be going away for a weekend for work soon, and she’d ended up crying herself to sleep on her mama’s chest because she couldn’t understand why Alyssa wouldn’t be home for their special Saturday breakfast or why they couldn’t all go to the hotel together, because they’d been to a hotel when they went to Disney world in the summer- and that was lots of fun.

So the couple had definitely expected the goodbye to be difficult from her, but they’d seemingly underestimated how hard it would be for them too.

Emma attempted to peel a very tearful Rosie away from her mommy, but it only caused the crying to intensify and her to cling on even tighter. She could tell that her wife was getting worked up herself, a combination of feeling like their screaming daughter was all her fault, and not wanting to miss her flight that she was already cutting it close with.

“Come on baby, mommy has to go now, she’ll be back in two sleeps I promise..” Emma attempted to reason with her, but it was hard enough to strike a compromise with her at the best of times- there was no way she was getting through to her now.

Alyssa took a shaky breath and she tried to unwrap Rosie’s tiny arms from their tight clutch around her, even though every instinct she had inside her was burning and screaming at her to hold on equally as tight and to comfort her little girl.

“C’mon Ro, I’ve really got to go now.. I love you so much baby” the brunette choked out, trying not to be too harsh so it didn’t come across like she wanted to leave, all of her wanted to stay with her little family.

“No mommy! I don’t want you go!” She spluttered, choking on the tears running down her face, and breaking both her mom’s hearts clean in two. 

Eventually, Emma managed to get a firm enough grip on their wriggling toddler and pull her onto her own shoulder, trying to ignore the shouts of protests, as she said her own goodbye to her now, visibly upset wife.

“It’s ok Lys- she’ll be ok, I promise you. Have a good time, I love you” Emma said lowly, leaning forward to press a quick kiss to her lips and then reached a hand out to wipe the tears from her wife’s cheeks, not wanting to smudge any makeup that had been so meticulously applied.

“I’m so sorry- call me whenever you need and if I’m not in a meeting I’ll pick up.. I love you” Alyssa said, grabbing her coat from the hook behind her and pulling it on, taking a few short sharp deep breaths. She could do this, Emma was right, it was two nights. 

“It’s not your fault babe, but yes I will— it’s a work conference not a vacation I know that, come on you’ve got to go your taxi is waiting” Emma reassured her quickly, spying the yellow taxi cab that had pulled up on the driveway behind their car. 

And with that Alyssa flashed a sad smile, still trying to block out the wailing coming from the toddler, and rushed out to the car, cabin-sized suitcase in tow, leaving her.

———

Emma wandered around the ground floor of their house, rocking back and fourth with Rosie draped over her shoulder. She could feel where the little girl had taken a handful of the shirt she was wearing in her palm, and she held onto her just a little tighter, wishing for her to stop crying before she started herself.

After a solid 15 minutes of rocking and humming, Rosie looked up at Emma with big sad eyes, her bottom lip still quivering. Emma could tell that the little girl was dealing with some big emotions, but wasn’t quite sure how to deal with them yet, so Emma made a note then and there to make the weekend as fun as it possibly could be for Rosie.

“i-i miss mommy” Rosie sniffed, before burying her head back into the crook of her mother’s neck as a fresh wave of tears fell down her cheeks.

Emma sighed sadly, rubbing a hand on her back gently trying to comfort her, not sure if it was even possible, “I know you do baby, I miss her too, but she’ll be back before we know it.. why don’t we go put on our pjs and have a cuddle on the couch?” she suggested, knowing how cuddly the surprisingly sensitive toddler got when she was sad.

Rosie nodded into Emma’s neck, not bothering to lift her head up again, it was comfy and her mama smelt nice.

Emma carried her into their bedroom, sitting her on the bed, brushing a few of her curls out of her face as she did so. She got changed out of her own work attire first, keeping an eye on her daughter over her shoulder while she pulled a T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants on, frowning at the vacant look painted on her face.

“Would you like me to get you some pjs Ro?” Emma asked, not sure if she was comfortable enough in the leggings and top she’d been dressed in by her other mom that morning.

Rosie shook her head, “mommy’s one” she spoke softly, eyes scrunching up at the mention of the source of her sadness.

“You want to wear one of mommy’s tops? We can do that..” Emma responded enthusiastically to the request, it was bittersweet for her, she had early-childhood memories of spending movie nights in her dad’s T-shirt’s, she remembered loving how the fabric felt as it hung around her knees. 

She grabbed one of Alyssa’s lightly-worn nightshirts from the washing pile, knowing it would bring more comfort than the smell of summer flowers.

“Shall I help you get changed, or can you do it by yourself?” Emma asked, kneeling down in front of her so they were eye-to-eye. It was important to her that she gave that decision to her daughter, but once she received a small mumble of ‘yes pwease mama’ she was quick to gently pull of the clothes that Rosie had been wearing throughout the day, replacing them with the striped shirt.

As Emma buttoned the last button on the top that was basically drowning the tiny figure, she pressed a kiss to her forehead, causing a small smile to grow on the toddlers face and proceeded to melt at the feeling of her little arms wrapping around her neck. She scooped Rosie up carefully, and carried her into the front room before depositing her on the soft couch.

They got comfortable together, Rosie snuggling into her side, before speaking up quietly, as she pointed up to the TV that hung on the wall.

“Movie mama?”

“Of course Tiny, which one would you like?” the blonde asked her daughter, as she reached across to the coffee table, retrieving the remote.

Rosie’s eyes went wide and she perked up slightly when she realised she got to choose. She thought for a moment, her tongue poking out the side of her mouth as she did so, making Emma smile- the mannerism was identical to that of Alyssa’s that she loved so much.

“‘Laddin??” Rosie asked.

“Good idea Ro! Mommy likes that one doesn’t she?” Emma responded, quickly scrolling to find it and press play. Granted it wasn’t her favourite film ever.. She’d probably seen it a hundred times at this point, considering it was her wife’s favourite Disney film of all time, but she loved the joy it now brought both of her girls and she’d watch it a hundred more times for them.

So the pair sat snuggled together and watched the animation, Emma’s heart growing warm as she watched the toddler gawp at the bright colours and music, whispering little ‘wow’s under her breath. Though she didn’t quite make it to the end, and by ‘A Whole New World’ she was snoring sweetly against her mom, all previous events of the evening not visible on her precious sleeping face.

Emma waited until the end of the film before even attempting to move her snoozing daughter, just enjoying the feeling of the toddler asleep on her, maybe getting just a little distracted the movie herself- not that she’d admit that.

She carefully scooped her into her arms, successfully not waking her, after having become quite the professional at this in her three years of parenting, and padded slowly into her room again.

She probably should have put her in her own toddler-sized bed, but she knew the bed would feel really empty without Alyssa there, so she told herself that she would just let Rosie sleep with her tonight in case she woke up and was upset again.

She set her down gently on Alyssa’s side of the bed, shushing quietly as she stretched out and got comfortable, and kissing her forehead gently, as not to disturb her, whilst she pulled the comforter over her. Looking at the clock on the bedside table, she debated going back into the living room to watch an episode of something before she joined Rosie in bed, but it was later than the little girl’s bedtime usually would be and she was feeling pretty tired herself. 

So she climbed silently into the other side of the bed, getting comfortable and then reaching into her pocket for her phone to text Alyssa - knowing her plane would be landing soon.

‘hey baby, all is good here and i hope your flight was tolerable. it took a little while but we eventually calmed down and decided on snuggles and aladdin to make tiny feel a little better. she fell asleep and we’re now in bed. just wanted to let you know before i fall asleep. i love and miss you so much. E x’

She quickly typed, sending it off for her wife to receive once she landed. Then after taking off her glasses and putting them onto the side on top of her phone, she rolled over to look at Rosie in the soft glow of lamp light. She didn’t know if it was a weird parent thing or what, but there was something so beautiful about watching her daughter sleep.

Admiring over a few minutes later, she flicked the lamp off with an outstretched arm, holding her breath slightly as it caused Rosie to stir and reposition herself. She really didn’t want to deal with anymore tears this close to bedtime. But the toddler resettled quickly and Emma exhaled quietly, letting a yawn slip out just after, and falling asleep, not next to the usual woman, but her in miniature.

———

The next morning Emma was woken up to a feeling of dampness on her face. Slightly confused, she opened her eyes quickly, reaching a hand up to investigate. A smile appearing when a kiss from Rosie caught the back of that hand, and she realised the toddler had been pressing them on her moms face in an attempt to wake her up. 

If there was a way to guarantee you’d be woken up the same way every morning, she’d want that way.

“Good morning Ro.. thank for you the lovely kisses” she said, voice still thick with sleep, reaching blindly out to the side for her glasses, and pushing them up her nose when she found them. 

“Mornin mama! Kisses for Rosie?” She asked, a bright smile spread across her face as she thrust her cheek close to her moms lips, giggling as Emma pressed a few feather-light kisses there at her request.

The little girl climbed onto Emma as soon as she’d finished shifting herself up slightly in bed, burying her head into her chest and sitting on her thighs. Emma wasn’t used to this much physical affection from her daughter in the mornings but she certainly wasn’t going to start complaining about it.

“Are you okay baby?” She asked quietly, wrapping an arm around her small frame carefully. She felt the girl nod, and then shake her head, and then heard a little sob as her shoulders shook silently.

“Hey- hey, it’s alright... can you tell mama how you’re feeling so I can help?” Emma prompted when she received no verbal answer.

Rosie turned her head to the side, taking a gulp of air before shakily beginning..

“I miss mommy- she wikes kisses so much too” she stuttered, the famous bottom lip sticking out again and tugging right at Emma’s heartstrings. It was going to be a long weekend.

“Oh I know you do Rosie but she’s going to be back so soon and you can give her all the kisses in the world then. Thank you for using your words so well. Why don’t we go and get some breakfast?” Emma suggested, but a second wave of tears and an attempt to bury herself closer into her mama whilst shaking her head forced Emma to keep that thought on the back burner.

She held onto Rosie tightly as she worked through her emotions, knowing this was just a natural part of growing up that she had to go through. 

They eventually got on with their usual Saturday morning routine, of pancakes for breakfast. Rosie told Emma that she wished Alyssa could be with them but she was happy she still had her- all without crying, which filled the mother with an odd sense of pride.

Emma agreed on letting the toddler take a bubble bath after breakfast, one of her favourite activities, as she couldn’t bear to witness the child cry again any more than was necessary that day.

Bath complete, Rosie and Mama both dressed, and Emma was left wracking her brains of an activity for them to do together once Rosie got bored of the train track she was currently playing quietly with in her bedroom.

———

Eventually Rosie came wandering out of her bedroom, in search of her mom who she found sitting at the dining table typing away on her laptop.

“What you doooin?” She asked, making Emma chuckle, that was clearly a phrase she’d picked up from some kids show she watched, obvious by the slight accent she put on when she said it.

“I’m just writing some emails but I’m not busy if you need me, what’s up?” Emma said to the toddler, who had come to nose at whatever Emma was doing on her computer.

“I bored with choo-choo now so we play ‘gether?” Rosie asked, as she watched her promptly shut her laptop and turn in her seat to face her.

“Of course! What would you like to play with?” Emma prompted brightly, she wanted Rosie to know that she would always have time for her, no matter what she was doing, so always tried to stop what she was doing as soon as possible if it was convenient.

“hmm,” Rosie thought for a minute, before looking up her mama with a nervous smile, “tar?” she wondered nervously. She adored it when Emma would play the guitar for her, the pair of them singing to Disney songs and other random musical theatre songs that had been drip fed to Rosie throughout the years by, most notably, her uncle Barry.

Emma beamed down at her daughter, she had always loved music. It provided an escape when she’d needed it most as a teenager, and had basically salvaged her early relationship with Alyssa - some would say it was the reason she was where she was today. And she loved nothing more then sharing her passion for it with her daughter. But she’d found things getting in the way of time she usually would have spent strumming away more and more these days. So now seemed like a perfect time to get out the trusty instrument, still adorned with various stickers Emma had collected throughout her youth, though some were a little worst for wear now.

“Guitar? What a good idea Ro! You go find somewhere for us to sit and I’ll get my guitar” Emma told her, causing the toddler to dash across the room and over the ottoman that was situated in the living room, waiting eagerly for Emma to join her.

Guitar retrieved, Emma approached Rosie and sat down next to her, reaching a hand out to ruffle her hair affectionately, noting in that moment that she hadn’t checked with Alyssa wether she should have washed it or not whilst she bathed her. Oh well, there were far more important things to think about, she’d deal with it later.

“COFFEE SONG MAMA!” Rosie announced, as she began singing an unintelligible tune that was vaguely familiar to Emma, from who knows where.

Emma’s brow furrowed as she tried to place the melody, or make sense of whatever was meant by ‘coffee song’ - but to no success.

“I don’t know what you mean baby.. can you remember any other words?” She asked her softly, not wanting to hurt her feelings by admitting she had zero clue what she was going on about, especially since she seemed so excited by it.

“The one with the bit that goes: ‘night nights and coffee coffee’” Rosie responded with, singing the last bit in her best singing voice. But Emma still had little to no idea what song she was referring too.

Rosie could sense her mother’s confusion and she let out a very loud, very exasperated sigh, “Comee on mama! It the one that goes ‘Andahundredandathousandandsixandminutesssss’! You know like uncle Barry was singing??” She explained, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Then it clicked, Rosie was referring to ‘Seasons of Love’ from RENT. Of course she was, she was turning into a walking show-tune before her eyes and there was little to be done about it. To be fair, the kid had great taste, but she couldn’t help but laugh at the prospect of telling Barry about this interaction later.

“Yes! I do know which one you mean, sorry Ro! It took me ages to work that out didn’t it?” Emma apologised, biting her lip slightly in an attempt to stop anymore laughter that was clearly upsetting the girl. What was so funny? And before she could say anything else to cause offence to the toddler, she started playing the chords and singing the actual lyrics of the song softly, quickly being overpowered by Rosie. But she didn’t mind, in fact she loved it, her little voice was maybe the cutest thing she’d ever heard. And the look of joy on her face as she belted a slightly altered version of the lyrics far too confidently was priceless.

They strummed through some other classics, for the most part Disney princess songs for a good couple of hours. Rosie swapped between singing away along with Emma, ‘helping’ play the actual guitar by batting away at the strings, and choreographing extravagant dance routines to the music she had requested.

It was adorable, and she wasn’t crying. Two of many reasons why Emma wouldn’t want to be spending her Saturday afternoon doing anything else other than playing for her daughter.

———

The rest of the evening was relatively painless for the pair, apart from the few times Emma had to chase Rosie around the house in an attempt to get her to tidy up the various toy bins she’d decided to pull out- but that wasn’t out of the ordinary. She even managed to start vacuuming whilst Rosie was colouring at the table.

“Mama! I made this one for mommy! Seeee!” The toddler called out loudly, making sure her mom would be able to hear her over the monotonous drone of the Dyson she was trailing around the house.

Emma came into the dining room after putting the vacuum back in the cupboard it lived in - she could finish that later.

“Wow Ro! She’ll really like that- good job!” Emma praised, admiring the drawing which looked vaguely like three people as she walked to stand behind her daughter. Whatever it was supposed to be she knew that Alyssa would love it, solely down to the artist behind it and who could blame her - she was pretty cute.

“You just write on it for me pwease?” Rosie asked, lifting Emma’s hand from the table beside her and placing a pen in it.

“Certainly.. what would you like me to put?” Emma asked as she uncapped the pen she’d been given.

“To- mommy- love- rosie-“ the toddler said slowly, giving Emma enough time to scribe the words on the top of the paper, “good job!” She said, mimicking her previous praise and looking up to her with a proud grin, causing Emma to chuckle quietly at the sweetness of the moment.

“All done..” she said as she popped the lid back on the pen, “Right you- it’s bedtime... can you go and chose some pjs and brush your teeth whilst I tidy away the colours please?” Emma requested, kissing the forehead of the fidgety toddler, before putting the artwork on the kitchen side behind her and beginning to shove the crayons and pens into the plastic tub they were kept in.

“Nooo!” The toddler protested, apparently not ready for bed yet, as she started taking her colouring utensils back out of the container Emma was trying to put them into.

“Rosie- stop it. It’s bedtime, you can colour some more in the morning” Emma warned her, gently pulling her little hands away so she couldn’t continue reversing Emma’s work.

“No mama! I waitin’ for mommy before bed!” She snapped back, brows furrowed with anger.

Emma sighed, running a hand through her head and trying desperately to think of a way to meet Rosie in the middle, knowing it wasn’t fair to completely discredit the feelings she had about missing Alyssa. Quick Emma, she thought as she could sense the girl getting more frustrated.

“Ok, ok. How about you go and get ready to snuggle down whilst I text mommy and ask her if we can FaceTime? I don’t know if she’s busy or not, but if we can we can talk to her a little bit before bed. How does that sound?” Emma proposed, hoping that would mitigate a meltdown.

“Fine- you text her now pwease.” Rosie huffed, climbing down from the table and sulking off to her bedroom to get changed like she’d been asked too.

Emma closed her eyes, exhaling loudly in relief as she watched the toddler slump out of the room. The weekend had already been rather draining, she was trying to minimise the amount of meltdowns she had to deal with. So she pulled her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans and quickly drafted a message to Alyssa- hoping and praying she’d reply with the answer they needed when she clicked send.

‘hi lys, i know you’re busy but kiddo is refusing to go to bed until she’s spoken to you. any chance of a facetime? no worries if not, I’ll work something out’

The mom finished tidying up the table, wondering how on earth such a small person made such a big mess whilst doing a very simple activity, until 5 minutes the buzz of her cellphone averted her attention. 

Alyssa’s name popped up on the screen as she unlocked her phone, eager to read her wife’s response and very grateful for her quick responses.

‘never to busy for you two, i just got back to my hotel anyway. call whenever. i love you :)’

Emma smiled at the messaged, she’d been so preoccupied with Rosie that she’d not taken much time to realise how much she missed her too, and how much she’d certainly be glad once they were all reunited again.

She went to her room, knowing that Rosie, who was as independent, if not more so, as Alyssa, was more then capable of getting herself organised and she’d come and find her when she was done. So she got herself changed out of the jeans she’d put on that morning and into something more comfortable.

A little while later, the toddler came trotting in to find her, “mama... I sorry for shouting you” she said quietly, looking down at her feet which she was scuffing gently on the carpet.

“That’s ok baby, you were feeling some big feelings weren’t you? Thank you for apologising to me, can I have a hug?” Emma said softly to the rather guilty looking, nodding toddler, opening her arms to embrace her when she walked closer. She held her for a minute or so before speaking up again..

“Shall we get snuggled down and then call mommy before we go to sleep?” Emma suggested, seeing her daughters eyes light up at the mention of her mommy.

“In your bed pwease?” She asked, hoping to be able to get a repeat of last nights sleeping arrangements.

“Yes Ro” 

The toddler grinned at her and then wriggled out of the hug and climbed quickly into Alyssa’s side of the bed, eager to call her.

Emma joined her, sitting down to let Rosie nestle into her side as she usually did, and then calling her wife, holding her breath as it rung- she knew that if Alyssa didn’t pick up it would probably end badly. But that worry didn’t last long, as her wife’s face quickly filled her phone screen.

“it’s mommy!” Rosie whispered to Emma, a look of awe on her face, still unable to totally grasp the wonders of modern technology - including facetime.

“Hi my beautiful girls! How are you?” Alyssa said brightly, even though Emma could see the telltale signs of tiredness on her face.

“Mommy!” Rosie repeated again, louder this time, laughing with pure joy at the sight of the person she’d been missing very much for over an entire day and seemingly unable to form any other words.

“That’s right, it’s funny that I’m on mama’s phone isn’t it?” Alyssa prompted with soft laugh, finding her daughters reaction rather funny.

“I miss you mommy, i just cry so many didnt I mama?” Rosie said with her signature pout, looking up to Emma to validate her claim.

“You have tiny, but it’s ok because mommy will be home tomorrow after lunchtime, and we’ve done lots of fun things haven’t we?” She said, kissing her soft brown curls gently, catching the warm smile Alyssa was giving them from the corner of her eye.

“I’m missing you so much too.” Alyssa said, and Emma could hear the slight waver in her voice that went undetected by Rosie, “Ooh, what have you been up to Ro?” Alyssa continued, asking the little girl, knowing that the three year old would have lots to say about even the most seemingly mundane task she’d completed.

Emma didn’t say too much for the duration of their phone call, letting the toddler ramble on about the hours they’d spent singing together, and how she was so excited to show her the drawing she’d made - only adding occasional explanations to Rosie’s recounts of the activities they’d gotten up to, since some of the babbling was a little hard to decipher.

They spoke for almost an hour, and it was the happiest their daughter had been the whole weekend, that was until Rosie’s eyelids began to droop and her words got quieter. Even her mom who was halfway across the country could tell she was falling asleep and it was probably about time for her to hang up the call.

Emma whispered to Alyssa to stay on the line for a second whilst she carefully pulled the pillow she’d been propped up on from behind the sleepy toddler so she could lie down, simpering as Rosie reached an arm to grab onto Emma as she rolled to get her phone.

Emma laid next to her, ‘Alyssa’ in one hand and the other stroking hair away from the girls face,

“Shall we say night night to mommy now Ro?” She whispered to her, even though she was already half asleep, she wasn’t going to risk any crying this close to bedtime, not when she’d made it this far without any.

“mm, night mom” she mumbled, causing Alyssa to sniff a little loudly. Emma looked up in time to see her wife wipe a tear from her cheek before composing herself and replying.

“Goodnight baby, see you tomorrow. I love you” 

And with a nod to confirm to Alyssa that Rosie was asleep- Emma hung up the call, immediately trying to free the arm the toddler had latched herself onto with quick success, so she could message her previously tearful wife.

‘thank you for that love, that’s the happiest I’ve seen her since yesterday- we are very excited to have you home. i noticed those tears, you alright?’ Emma typed, sending it hastily.

The woman quickly silenced her phone before Alyssa could reply, not wanting to wake up the sleeping child next to her. The text came through promptly, and she opened the messages app to read it.

‘no problem, it was nice for me too. and i’m ok- just missing you two quite a bit.’

‘well you’ll be home tomorrow in time for dinner right? and then we’ll be all together again’

‘exactly, i love you’

‘i love you too, i’m dropping off now so I’ll message you in the morning. goodnight <3’

‘night em :)’

—

Alyssa thanked her taxi driver, passing him a pile of bills before clambering out the side door, pulling her suitcase with her and flattening her skirt as she stood on the sidewalk outside her house.

Her morning had been crazy.

She’d decided after the FaceTime call that she’d much rather take an earlier flight and skip out on the team brunch her manager had planned. So that’s what she did.

She’d sent her co-worker a message, saying that something had come up at home and she needed to head back home early. Granted- that was a little bit of a white lie, but she’d spent enough time with whoever was going to be at that brunch during the conference on Saturday, so she didn’t mind too much. And then she’d called the airline, very grateful to the 24/7 hotline they had and to the fact that equivalent flights to her original one seemingly weren’t busy, and she was able to be transferred to one that left at 7am, as opposed to 3pm. The plane journey had been relatively painless, and after the 3 hour flight and time difference adjustment, she was standing on her doorstep at just gone 12 noon, far earlier then her family were expecting her.

She took a breath to steady her racing heart, a little overwhelmed by the prospect of being able to hug her girls in a matter of seconds, and knocked sharply on the front door.

Moments later, a very surprised looking Emma opened the door, her jaw dropping almost to the ground as she took in the sight in front of her.

“But- you- why are you here??” She stuttered, not able to fully comprehend why her wife was standing on their doorstep nearly 8 hours before she was expecting her.

“What can I say? I missed you too much.. Aren’t you going to let me in?” Alyssa teased, catching Emma’s hand and squeezing it gently as she walked passed her and into the hallway of their house, abandoning her suitcase in front of the door as she heard familiar footsteps running towards her.

She’d barely been able to take her shoes off before a tiny body, that she could feel buzzing with excitement, collided firmly with her legs, hugging them tightly.

“Mommy! Is it you for real??” The toddler screamed, unable to contain her surprise at the surprise.

Alyssa laughed and scooped her daughter into her arms, kissing her cheeks a few times before hugging her tightly.

“It is me! Did I surprise you Ro?” She said, unable to keep the beam off of her face, it might have only been a couple of days but she’d been looking forward to this more than she could ever communicate.

“Yesyesyes! Mama just said you be home at dinner time!” She said, a few small sobs slipping past her lips as she finished, and buried her head back into her mom’s shoulder.

Emma walked over to the pair, reaching a hand to wipe the toddlers cheek that was damp with fresh tears, “What’s wrong baby? Aren’t you glad to have mommy home?” She asked, a little confused by the tears, when the scenario was exactly what she’d been craving the whole weekend.

“I-I am just so happy!” She stuttered, causing her mother’s to both ‘aww’ simultaneously. They reflected the wide smile on her face as they watched her cry for joy for the first time in her life. 

Rosie grabbed onto Emma’s arm, pulling her closer for a much anticipated family hug, which she gladly accepted, wrapping an arm each around her wife and daughter.

In that moment, as they held on tightly to each other, laughing quietly at the pure joy and slight absurdity of the situation- Emma and Alyssa both knew that there was nowhere either of them would ever rather be than home.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading and putting up with the amount of spam I’ve put in this tag- I hope at least one other person is enjoying it!
> 
> Comments & Kudos always appreciated :)


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